Method of and appliance for use in rolling-mill operations



Jan. 9, 19-23. 1,441,354

L, JONES. METHOD OF AND APPLIANCE FOR USE IN ROLLING MILL OPERATIONS.

FILED MAR. 24. 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I Jan. 9, 1923.

L. JONES.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 METHOD OF AND APPLIANCE FOR USE IN ROLLING Ml LL OPERATI ONS.

Fl LED MAR. 24, I921 W/T/VESSES Patented Jan. 9, i923,

entree w sraras rinse i earner errie-s.

LLOYD J ONES, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF AND APPLIANCE FOR USE IN 'ROLLING-IiIILL OPERATIONS.

Application filed March 24, 1921. Serial No. 455,067.

"To aZZ whOm it may concern:

- Be it known that I, LLOYD JoNns, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania,'a citizen of the United States, have invented 0r. discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Appliances for Use in Rolling-Mill Operations, of which improvements the following is a specification.

My inventionrelates to improvements in methods of and apparatus for preventing distortion of elongate articles incident to the cooling ofthe articles after delivery from the forming instrumentalities. It is particularly applicable to the production of rolled articles of metal. Elongate rolled articles of metal, such for example as steel beams and rails, come from the finalpass of the rolling mill at a temperature very considerably higher than atmospheric, and they lie on cooling beds until gradually they come to atmospheric temperature. In'cooling such articles shrink, and in shrinking areli'a'ble to distortion such in de 'ree as often to be prejudicial to their intended use. This is peculiarly true in the case of articles of irregular or unsymmetrical cross-sectional form, such, for example, as the familiar railroad rails.

Various expedients have been resorted to, to overcome this diiiiculty in manufacture. One such expedient is so to roll the article that on delivery from the final roll pass it shall be oppositely curved to the shape to which otherwise it would by thermal contraction be distorted; this with the end in view that thermal contraction shall bring it ultimately to the desired straightness. This rolling to opposite curvature is called cambering. It is, however, but imperfectly successful, for the degree of distortion is not capable of accurate predetermination; so 'cambering though in some degree curative,

does not in practice effect complete cure.

Another expedient is to pass the article when cold through straighteniim' rolls, in which the article is bent to a degree exceeding the elastic limit, at which a permanent set takesplace. This operation has inherent disadvantages, and,besides'. the practice of it involves the use of additional machinery, and the expenditure of additional time and labor. f v

My invention consists essentially in holding the article under tension during the time of its cooling, to the end that thermal contraction may not be effective to distort it.

The invention 'i'sillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. I is a View in vertical section through the cooling bed of a rolling mill, and-resting upon this cooling bed a rolled article is shown in elevation, held under tension. Fig. II is a similar view, showing means for accomplishing the same end Inthis figuremv invention in its general aspect isillustrated. Fig. III is a diagrammatic view showing mechanism wherein 'my invention in part resides, this mechanism being here shown in its organization with other material-handling parts. Figure III is a fragmentary View partly inelevation, partly in vertical section, of a III. Fig. IVis a plan view of'a mill as} sembly, illustrating more-fully, how my invention' may be organized; and Fig. V .is a plan view of the cooling tables on the discharge side of a rolling mill, in which my invention in greater elaboration is present and is adapted to economy.

Referring first to Fig. 1,1 indicates a length of rolled material lying on a table 2, in position such as it occupies immediately on coming from the finishing pass of the rolling mill,or perhaps from shears stationed at thedelivery sideot .the final roll pass. On this table, 2 the material. grows cold. Arranged for co-operation with table 2 is a pair'of cams 3, so situated that they may engage at opposite ends the length ot rolle d material brought to position beneath them, andimay clamp the length of material atits opposite ends securely to "the table. As the material so clamped grows cold, and in cool- .ing shrinks, tendencies to distortion are resisted and overcome by the tension set up between the two points of gripping, and the consequence is that. the length of mate rial when cold is straight. Indeed,, by such means small deviationsirom straightness present in the material while hot will correct themselves.

In Fig, II the length of material 1] resting on table 2 is shown to be gripped at. opposite ends by tongs 5t, One pair of tongs is anchored to thetable; the other is carried on the stem of the piston of an hydraulic cylinder. 5., -The hydraulic cyldraulid accumulator 6. In this case the tenportion ot the' structure shown inFigure 'inder is in communication with an: hy-

met by the pressure exercised upon the pis ton from the accumulator 6, and this countervailing stress suflices, to prevent the distortion already dwelt upon, otherwise incident to cooling. The result is, as before: prevention of distortion under shrinkage of the length of material 1, but as will be perceived provision is found in the accumulator for limiting the degree of tension to which the cooling article is subjected. It would be possible in the practice of my invention to mount both pairs of tongs on the stems of hydraulic pistons; but in usual practice there would be no advantage-inthis duplication.

As shown in FigsIII and III, a rotary drum 2 is equipped peripherally with a large number of pairs of clamps between which successive lengths of material are secured to extend in a directionlongitudinal of the drum. In III the twenty-eight small circles 5 arranged about the-periphery of the drum serve to indicate diagrammatically inend elevation a succession of such hydraulic cylinders-as are shown in Fig. II, and it will be understood that the drum here shown is equippedwith twenty-eightpairs of clamps, such as that illustrated in detail in. Fig. II. It will be understood too that the drum 2* of-Fig. III might'instead be equipped wit-h pairsof clamps such as shown in Fig. I. Figs. III and III show the pcripheral'cylinders 5 on drum 2 to be connected with an axially situated manifold 14L and through this ma-nifoldwith an accumulator 6 of the character already described. A run-out trough 7 brings the lengths of hot material to position adjacent drum 2. and from the trough successive lengths are picked up and carried bythe drum as it rotates, through a path defined by its periphery. At a suitable point in the path the clamps are released and. the lengths of material escape-down skids 8 to a run-out or delivery table 9. The provision of valve con trol for properly timed application of and relief of hydraulic pressure to cylinder 5 as the drum 2 rotates is indicated at 1.5 in Figure III. The showing is: diagrammatic. It will be understood that such a valve or its equivalent. accessible for automatic operation, will be provided for each cylinder The size of drum 2 and its rate of rotation and the 'relative positions: of trough 7 "and of skids 8 to it will be so determined that the drum will pick up the successive lengths of material asrapidly as they are produced,

and also that the tune interval during which a length of materlal advancing upon the I,

turning drum passes from tmugh't' to skids 8 shall be suilicient, under the conditions obtaining, to allow the material to cool beyond the degree of temperature at which it takes permanent set, before delivery to skids 8.

In Fig. IV amill lay-out is indicated, with the apparatus of'my invention suit-ably located with respect to the whole. The roll stands of the finishing mill are indicated at 10; the run-out trough 7 leads from the ultimate roll pass to the cooling table. At a convenient point intermediate the length of trough 7 stands a hot saw 11, by means of whichthe newly rolled material 'iscut to desired lengths on its way to the place of cooling. Adjacent trough? at. its furtherend, and in the position relative thereto more fully shown in Fig. III,- st'ands the ro- .tary' drum 2, to which the lengths of newly formed and still hot material are applied, and upon which they are borne until they have cooled beyond the point of permanent set. From drum 2 the material passes over skids 8 to the delivery tablet) along which the now cooled lengths of material, advance to the point of delivery. Acold SllGELIilS indicated at 12, in the line ofad-vance of mate rial from table 9, and beyond the'shear the cold and trimmed material is'received on table 13. At 6 is diagrammaticallyshown the hydraulic accumulator (cf. Figs. II, III, and III) which, itwill be-unders-tood, may be brought into communication with each of the cylinders 5*upon drum 2:, and so made effective, to-impose the req-uisite tension upon each length. in turn of: cooling naterial. t will of course be understood that the valves 15 may be automatically shifted to dischargethe articles successively and at the proper time from drum 2 to skidsS.

Fig. V shows anassembly fora mill in which heavier sections are-rolled-'such, for example. as railroad rails. The roll stands of the finishing mill are indicated at 10 At suitable intervals along therun-out trough 7 is arranged a plurality of'hot saws 11. by which newly rolled material may be rapidly severed into a plurality oflengths. -Correspondingly, the number of drums 2 is increased, each with its set of-skids 8 leading to delivery table 9. The table 13 maybe enlarged to care for the more rapidly produced material. An hydraulic accumulator 6 is indicated. which may be made effective upon all of thehydraulic cylinders of all of the drums. i

I claim as my invention:

1. The method herein described of preventing distortion of the rolledfproduct of a hot mill which consists in holding the 'dertension asit cools.

3. In combination with a hot mill, means for holding the rolled article yieldmgly under tension as it cools, said means including a clamp borne on the stem of the piston of an hydraulic cylinder, together with an hydraullc accumulator incommunication with said cylinder.

4:. In combination witha hot mill, a .ro-v tary drum arranged on the delivery side of said mill said drum being provided with pairs of clamps adapted to engage at'opposite ends a plurality of rolled articles delivered hot from thevniill and tosustain articles so engaged during cooling. I

5 The method herein described of 0btaining from a hot mill a straight rolled product which Consists in securing the product at two relatively remote points against my hand.

LLOYD JONES.

Witnesses: I

BAYARD H. CHRIsTY,

FR -NcIs J ToMAssoN. v 

